Things one learns in Japan

Tuesday. Lunch. My mother cooked some noodles with soup (she calls "misoshiru", although it's not like the Japanese "miso"... her's is more like udon... perhaps). So, while eating, I hear from my sister:

"Don't slurp while eating. That's rude!"

Eh...?? Well, in Japan slurping while eating noodles, for example, is accepted. It's even said that some may get offended if you don't, like if the soup isn't hot enough (although I haven't noticed that while I was there...). Another point of view is that's necessary. I can't imagine another way of eating at the speed Japanese do using chopsticks.

But in Brazil (and some other wertern countries), that's considered rudeness in table manners. One should do no noises while eating. After almost one year in Japan, I got the Japanese habit of slurping when eating hot noodles... and I haven't got rid of it aven after returning. Guess I'll have to be a little more careful when eating soups or noodles for a while...